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USBP Weapons, Part 4

Since few of us have ever or will ever be involved in a physical
assault, most of what we "know" about violence is from
what we see on TV. First, most assaults are over in just seconds.
Second, assaults are usually very violent because the perpetrator
is usually very eager to see you not fight back.

Here's how Agents respond to an attack:

People's personalities can be grouped into three general catagories:

5% are "High Speed" and ready with a quick and accurate
response.

30% are "Followers" and may spend an inordinate
amount of time reacting to any situation.

65% are "non friction" types and just slide from
one work shift to the next and pay little attention to their surroundings.
Most of these also couldn't even hit the ground if they fell on
it.

One of the key concepts that is overlooked in most
television action dramas is that "If they shoot at you once, they
will shoot at you again." Thus, while on TV you see the bad guy
firing and then the good guy firing and the bad guy drops and
the good guy kisses the girl.

In reality, the bad guy fires, the good guy then
takes three fourths of a second to realize that the bad guy IS
ACTUALLY DOING THIS TO HIMand then the good guy fires,
and continues to fire at the bad guy, until the bad guy is face
down. Then the good guy sits on the ground and regains his senses.
And this is all if the good guy has his gun out and even aimed
at the bad guy when it all happens...

But while these bullets are flying in all directions
both parties become confused and concerned because there is usually
no indication that any shot fired has hit its mark. There is no
blood. There is no puff of dust or inflation of the shirt at point
of impact. There is nothing. This is not Hollywood.

Now imagine that all of this is happening to you
down a dirt road in a canyon at midnight and 30 miles from help.

And oh yes, and it can easily get worse.

At night, when the pistol is fired, the sudden bright
flash from the muzzle makes you night blind for several seconds.
So.... bad as it all may have seemed up to that moment, it now
gets worse because the only way you might know where to aim now
to save your own life is to wait for the bad guy to shoot at you
again so you can see his muzzle flash and then aim there.

This is not Hollywood.

But again, it is important that you do not give
the attacker the time to remedy his aim. Further, pistols (as
mentioned above) do not provide any instant result. Thus, when
you are engaged in some cordite scented altercation it is best
to continue to engage the threat until the threat has proved
itself to no longer be…….. a threat.

Every three months the Agent must re-qualify with
the pistol. Out of 360 points possible at the range the Agent
must attain 252 points.

Certainly, in any encounter an Agent must step through
a series of ever escalating levels of threat to him or another
before lethal force can be used: